Local political science professors say President Obama made strong comeback in debate

Several political science professors at Bay Area universities said that President Barack Obama turned in a much improved performance in his debate with Republican challenger Mitt Romney Tuesday night.

"It was very, very different than the first debate. I think you can say safely that Obama redeemed himself," said Hank Fearnley, a political science professor at College of Marin. "He was on the offensive most of the time, and I think generally speaking he won this debate. He did a very, very good job. There was even a point there when he had Romney on the ropes."

Alison Howard, an assistant professor of political science at Dominican University of California in San Rafael, also said she thought President Obama won the debate.

"From the start Obama showed he was going to defend his positions and challenge Romney on what he has been saying on the campaign trail," Howard said. "He definitely showed up to this debate compared to the last one."

But Howard said, "Romney got his points across because he definitely repeated certain things over and over again."

Joseph Tuman, professor of communication studies at San Francisco State University, said he thought Romney outshined Obama during the first 60 minutes of the debate.

"But at about the 60 minute mark it went south on him," Tuman said.

At that point, Tuman said, "The president more than metaphorically got off his stool and jumped back into the debate. He just sort of seemed to have some fire in his belly. He acted like somebody who wanted the job."

Both Tuman and Howard said Obama strongly asserted himself during the discussion of the death of U.S. Ambassador to Libya Chris Stevens. At one point the debate moderator, Candy Crowley, corrected Romney when Romney challenged the president's statement that he described the incident as an "act of terror" early on.

Tuman said, "It gave Obama the opportunity to sound like a president and reinforce his message that Romney was being a political opportunist on this issue."

Tuman said Obama also seized an opportunity at the very end of the debate to remind voters about Romney's earlier comment that 47 percent of Americans are "dependent on government" and see themselves as "victims."

Tuman said, "It was negative and a little ruthless but it was what he had to do."

David McCuan, an associate professor of political science at Sonoma State University, agreed that President Obama performed well; but he said, "It seems to me what we have is a draw."

McCuan added, "The president probably did well enough to stem the momentum that had shifted to Romney; but we don't know that until we see some likely voter polls next week."

The professors all said they don't expect President Obama to get nearly as big a bounce in the polls as Romney did after their first debate.

Howard said, "You'll see a small gain maybe for Obama; but it's not going to be as big as the shift to Romney."